Developing a sodium-sulfur (NaS) battery

POSCO, South Korea’s leading steelmaker, said Thursday that it has succeeded in developing a sodium-sulfur (NaS) battery for the first time in the country.

The newly developed rechargeable battery is three times higher in energy density than existing batteries and lasts more than 15 years, which makes them appropriate for large-scale energy storage, the company said.

NaS batteries are commonly used for large-scale energy storage systems and cheaper to make than lithium-ion batteries, which are also used as storage batteries.

“The success is expected to spur more developments in the country’s energy storage technology amid a global competition for building efficient electricity power systems,” POSCO said.

The company said it hopes to commercialize the NaS batteries by 2015 and foster energy as one of its key business areas.

The size of the global storage battery market is forecast to reach US$ 10 billion by 2020, up from $ 450 million as of 2010, according to POSCO. Japan’s NGK Insulators Ltd. is currently the world’s sole manufacturer of NaS batteries. (PNA/Yonhap)